I think that I just don't understand how to open up correctly in the 2nd pull. And, because I can't think through it conceptually, I can't practice it. I don't totally get what you mean by punching down with the legs and snapping the hips open like accelerating off a soft base--at least to the extent that it is different from what I am already doing.

When I really break my video down, I can sort of see myself moving forward in the 2nd pull as the bar approaches my hips (and again on the pull under... but I'll try to fix that another time). And again with "punch the legs up and pick the feet up"... How do you open up from the first pull with vertical hips and without losing tension all the tension you've just built? I can't even conceptualize it.

I'm saying that currently you're extending your hips with a soft base because you're not pushing against the ground with your legs. So the hip extension is not moving the bar upward as much because your soft legs are absorbing some of the force and allowing it to move forward.

When I say punch the legs, I mean push down against the floor violently and abruptly - the same kind of aggressiveness you want with the hip extension.

Extending just the hips will not lift the bar very well. You need to continue pushing down against the floor with your legs as you do to direct the bar upward instead of forward.

If you want to make it as simple as possible: jump through the heels. That is an oversimplification, but it might be a concept that works for you.

Another way to think of it is that the first pull is just pushing with the legs. The second pull is continuing to push with the legs, just more aggressively, AND extending the hips. I do think you're overthinking it.

it has been a couple weeks and today I finally reached my previous PR of 165--I think there was more in the tank and we will see if a new PR comes this week. Anyway, here's a video of the 165. I'm really trying to find my heels through the 2nd pull and get down quick. Please let me know your feedback.

You're hunching over the bar as you extend - probably tied to the shrugging emphasis. Finish w your shoulders back, not rounding forward, and your head up. And just take it down a notch - it's the empty bar.